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Backers of second Boulder municipalization vote turn in petition signatures

City clerk has 15 business days to verify whether group has 4,549 valid signatures

By Joe Rubino Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
06/28/2013 03:40:49 PM MDT

Updated:
06/28/2013 09:34:06 PM MDT

Supporters of a proposed charter amendment requiring another vote on a Boulder-run electric utility delivered petition signatures to the city clerk Friday.

Organizers said they had collected about 7,500 signatures from voters who want to see the measure on the November ballot.

Representatives of the group, Voter Approval of Debt Limits, began circulating the petition late last month. To get the measure on the ballot, the group needed 4,549 valid signatures, or 5 percent of all registered voters in Boulder.

The amendment would require that before a city-run electric utility could issue debt, voters would have to approve the amount of the debt limit and the total cost of debt repayment. It also would require that the utility's service area remain within Boulder's city limits unless registered electors from the unincorporated portion of the service area also are permitted to vote in the debt limit and repayment cost election.

"The 7,500 or so people who signed this petition feel it's important to have some safeguards," group spokeswoman Katy Atkinson said. "This just creates a ceiling so voters know what the final cost is going to be."

Atkinson said the measure, if approved, would also ensure the people of Boulder "don't get hosed by Wall Street bankers" by mandating any issuer of the bonds cannot charge more than 1 percent for its services.

Municipalization proponents have argued that forcing a second vote could, in effect, "kill" any bid by Boulder to establish a city-run electric utility.

Acknowledging concerns about the possibility of higher-than-anticipated costs, members of Empower our Future -- which favors the city's move toward municipalization -- have suggested a competing debt limit ballot measure that would be "tied to a reasonable debt amount."

In a statement issued Friday afternoon, members of Empower Our Future questioned the integrity of the signature drive by Voter Approval of Debt Limits, calling it a "front group" with ties to Xcel Energy that used a political consulting firm with professional circulators to reach the required number of signatures.

"Xcel knows that it cannot beat Boulder's analysis for forming a municipal utility on its merits, so they have decided to spend unlimited amounts of money to reverse the vote of the people in 2011. The proposed ballot issue is a ruse," Empower Our Future member Ken Regelson said in an interview Friday. "It's an effort to stop the city from moving forward on a renewable energy utility of the future."

Atkinson rejected the notion that the ballot measure is an effort to kill municipalization. She said she knows some of the people who signed the debt limit petition voted against municipalization in 2011, but many others are simply interested in making sure the potential costs are controlled.

"There are others who support it but want some protections," she said. "They like the idea, but they're nervous about the final costs."

City Clerk Alisa Lewis issued the representatives of Voter Approval of Debt Limits a receipt for the petition Friday. She has 15 business days to verify the signatures.

If the requisite number of signatures is verified, the ballot measure will likely be discussed at a City Council meeting Aug. 20, according to Boulder spokeswoman Sarah Huntley.

Diane Rees, left, and Katy Atkinson turn in petitions with more than 7,500 signatures seeking to place a municipalization-related charter amendment on the November ballot to Boulder City Clerk Alisa Lewis on Friday, June 28, 2013. (Cliff Grassmick / Daily Camera)

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